Somerset-based company Sleeps 12 is the premier accommodation provider for those wanting to find a home away from home in the South West, one that’s capable of hosting an extended gathering of family and friends. With homes in some of the region’s most picturesque settings, the business has grown rapidly, offering more than mere homes. We caught up with Sleeps 12 manager, Oliver Yiend, to find out more about their success story and how our legal advisors have supported their growth.
Starting Out Small
The genesis of Sleeps 12 can be traced to when owner Jess Vellacott married husband Ashley, and both saw that the farm in which they lived needed to diversify. Moving out of the farmhouse, the duo used an agent to let the property with no facilities. This led to two years of monitoring the property market to see what worked well. What struck them was the demand for larger properties with facilities for all.
With that realisation, they sold the farmhouse, using the funds to build a barn based on research undertaken and with the new target audience in mind. The property included a pool, games room, and other amenities suitable to host many guests. Sourcing a web designer, they built a website and ran print adverts in magazines, including those produced by Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer.
Jess dealt with bookings using a simple wall planner to start. With momentum building, they were approached by other farmers in the area looking to diversify and rent their own properties. Jess and Ashley advised the same route, supporting farmers and soon created the agency Sleeps 12, subsequently achieving planning permission for two further purpose-built properties on their land. And so, the agency was born.
A Virtual Offer
Jessica’s next step was to use an agent to help promote and sell the property, which was swiftly followed by the use of third-party software and the creation of her own website, allowing full control of the booking process. As is often the case for a start-up launching in an emerging market, it was word of mouth that propelled Sleeps 12 to the next level. Seeing what was possible, friends began to get involved, offering their accommodation for rent. Very soon a roster of almost 20 properties were available to rent through the new website, and all achieved through organic growth.
Recognising the potential for further development and growth, and trying to handle an increasing portfolio of properties, Jessica took on more staff and the newly expanded Sleeps 12 team acquired Scrumpy, which builds websites for holiday rental companies. These full-featured sites take the strain out of managing the booking procedure – offering a service that’s now available to other accommodation providers for their own websites.
In the meantime, Sleeps 12 has reached a stage where around 65 properties are available on their own website, as well as being hosted on other sites too. With its heart and headquarters in the South West, you can rent a place in Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, plus further afield in Herefordshire, Nottinghamshire, Hampshire, East Sussex, and Surrey.
The Legal Requirements
Given the company’s expansion and increasing online presence, the Sleeps 12 team were aware of the need to ensure legal compliance in all their operations. This led to contact with Stephens Scown, and with Richard Slater, a Partner in the law firm’s Dispute Resolution team. Richard’s work helped to build a good relationship with the Sleeps 12 team, and when further specialist support was required, it saw the company referred to Tim Lane from the Corporate team.
It quickly became clear that the work needed would require the kind of specialist support offered by the Intellectual Property and Data Protection team, who stepped in to help with trade mark reviews. This support was important with Sleeps 12’s role as agents and the work being done to build software platforms for other property providers. Becky Pickford and Olivia Richards worked on trade marks, while Amy Ralston and Joey Medway conducted an IP review, plus a data protection review in coordination with Tom Chartres-Moore and Max Miliffe.
Collectively, Stephens Scown legal advisors provided support with an owner contract, booker terms and conditions, the platform terms and conditions, systems, software development agreements, plus cookie and privacy policies as part of the comprehensive work undertaken. It’s part of a broader retainer now in place with Sleeps 12 and managed by Emily Smith in the team.
Sleeps 12 also took advantage of our Virtual Privacy Officer service. Utilising the gold package, the retainer covers areas such as data breaches and subject access requests, with Max and Cherry Wong carrying out an audit and assessment as part of the service.
Due to the wealth of expertise being accessed through Stephens Scown, Tim Lane and Amy Ralston lead on delivering the full range of commercial services for Sleeps 12, which ensures a smooth and seamless joined-up approach in terms of consistently high levels of client service no matter which team the client is dealing with, something which Sleeps 12 have appreciated.
Now three years in post, working in operations and business development at Sleeps 12, Oliver Yiend has helped shepherd the organisation through the end of Covid, and into its newest expansion phase. The result of his work will see Sleeps 12 become a major player in supporting holiday accommodation providers, using its own experience to guide and work to help others achieve success.
Speaking about the partnership with the Firm, Oliver said, “we enjoy working with the team, they’re open and honest, never trying to hide anything. If we have questions, the team are there to support us and are always up to date on the latest information we need to know.
“The work we do is normally ad-hoc, but with the VPO service we get to touch base and check in once a month at least. With our plans for the coming year, we’re looking forward to continuing the relationship and know that we can rely on the team.”
Future Development
As for what Sleeps 12 have planned in the future, the initial step will be to rename Scrumpy to StayTech. The relaunched platform will further enhance the customer experience both for current partners, and future providers keen to capitalise on Sleeps 12’s success.
New premises are also being finalised, with a new HQ being prepared.
With conversations around the letting sector, Sleeps 12 stands out as different, being ideally positioned to help providers with agency bookings, and to secure repeat bookings, helping property owners sell accommodation on more favourable terms and connecting with customers.
Its investment in software and hiring of a developer to work on the package and accelerate growth as the business adapts to support others in the sector, the future for Sleeps 12 holds plenty of possibilities.
Speaking about her work with Sleeps 12, Amy said, “It has been, and continues to be a delight to work closely with the team at Sleeps 12. It’s great to see a Somerset based business go from strength to strength and continuing with its growth plans. I look forward to seeing what’s next.”
